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Star Wars Production Company Fined Almost $2 Million For Harrison Ford's Injury (bbc.co.uk)
New submitter Shimbo writes: Foodles Production (UK) Ltd was fined 1.6 million British pounds (almost $2 million) at Aylesbury Crown Court today after pleading guilty to two charges under the Health and Safety at Work Act at an earlier hearing. Judge Francis Sheridan said, "The greatest failing of all on behalf of the company is a lack of communication, a lack because, if you have a risk assessment and you do not communicate it, what is the point of having one?" The fine is a result of an unfortunate incident while filming Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Harrison Ford was reportedly knocked to the ground and crushed beneath a heavy hydraulic door when he walked on to the set of the Millennium Falcon -- not believing it to be live. The 71-year-old actor suffered a broken left leg. Prosecutor Andrew Marshall said, according to Britain's Press Association, the door acted like a "blunt guillotine," coming down "millimeters from his face." The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) told the court that Ford was hit with a force similar to the weight of a small car.
A British film production company has been fined £1.6 million (almost $2 million) ...
He was trying to recreate the stormtrooper hitting his head in the first Star Wars film (IV: A New Hope).
The film was so bad they needed to add a bloopers extra for the film to even sell on DVD.
I am a bit curious on why they didn't use styrofoam for the automatic doors. When they are molded and painted it is tough to tell the difference. However if they close on someone. The injures would be much less.
The cost of fixing a styrofoam door would be less than the cost of breaking a stars leg.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
Ford was hit with a force similar to the weight of a small car
The force was not with him, that day.
Slashdot, fix the reply notifications... You won't get away with it...
Sound like a legendary way to leave.
I'm picturing a huge door slamming down right next to his head as the article describes. But then I try to figure out how his leg broke... Where was his leg such that it was broken when the door came down near his head?
I guess that means Han Solo isn't dead.
The problem with quotes on the internet, is that nobody bothers to check their veracity. -- Abraham Lincoln
He was actually completely clear of the door, but reached back to grab his hat
Almost sounds like Han Solo getting crushed by heavy hydraulic garbage compactor...
£1.6 million. About 260 times the usual UK settlement for a broken leg at work.
The one that lowers to form a ramp to enter the ship. Can't have actors walking on a styrofoam ramp. TFA says in the 1977 movie, the door/ramp was lowered by hand using pulleys. Guess someone decided the new movies deserved a fancy mechanized door. Except since this is for a movie and not "real" use, it was designed and built by prop makers who never really gave much thought to safety since the very low frequency of use of their props meant accidents were exceedingly rare.
Are you sure this story isn't about Harris Ford?
Ford's lawyers are irrellevant. This action was taken by the UK Health and Safety Executive.
"When I grow up, I want to be a weirdo"
They should have hit Disney with a bigger fine for killing Han Solo GRAPHICALLY - ON SCREEN - BY HIS OWN SON in front of an audience including six year old kids. Giving that movie a PG-13 rating was pretty fucked up. PG-13 sounds like 'Parental Guidance for children under 13' but if you read the go to the MPAA's web site their fine print it says "PG-13 (Parents Strongly Cautioned) – Some Material May Be Inappropriate For Children Under 13." Guess Disney didn't want an R rating to scare away families so they pulled strings at the MPAA
Found On Ramp Dead? .......I slay me.
Fix Or Repair Door?
Force Of Ramp Door?
You are being ripped off every second of every day, so that advertisers can help rip you off even more tomorrow.
In fact, it was over 12 parsecs of force. He is lucky to be alive.
May the force be equal to mass times acceleration.
This signature is false.
but i do rather like the 3 Indiana Jones movies but if they do a fourth they would have to do some sort of handof to a younger character
I guess the hit damage are more related to energy than force.
move it back to usa where you can make each actor an 1099 work and wash your hands of any workers comp.
The fine is absurd.
Look up most industrial deaths in uk and fines are no where near.
However, on bizarre thing about their law is companies are expected to go to different levels based on their abilities.
So a huge corporation would be expected to spend $10 million on a safety control to prevent a death, yet a very small company would only be expected to implement controls up to $100,000 to eliminate potential death.
But later versions were edited to show the door shout first.
But Ford has lawyers and a lot of money.
Not his lawyers doing this. Not him starting it either.
The production company has a lot of money. They should be fined just enough so that it hurts for a fuck-up like this. They will learn, and the risk of it happening again will be decidedly lower. That is a good thing.
The fine was down to who was hurt. Had this been an injury to a stage-hand, they'd be lucky to get any compensation and the company would just log it as a work accident. Furthermore, the stage-hand is probably on some contract via an agency who won't have employees comp insurance, so they'd also lose income.
As for your idea, Durrbrain. The UKP is very low, making something in the UK with USD has never been cheaper. You also have no idea what unions are like in this industry in the US. You have to have very set jobs for people, which means lots and lots of people, despite only a few general skilled ones being needed. But don't let reality burst your wanky opinion of the UK. Go back to the Guardian or Daily Retarded Mail.
You socialists with your laws and regulations. No wait, you're not socialists, you're right wing neo-liberals with laws and regulations. US bubble.
jh
As heartbroken as the rest of us are over the next StarWars turd Disney's hard at work on, how does this affect the new Bladerunner movie? We were told 2017-10-7. We're holding you to it now!
I'm replying to myself because I got modded down for a thoughtful, straightforward post about a legitimate scenario, and two of the replies make an interesting assumption. I said nothing about moving production to the USA from the UK. If anything they would move to some other country that is advanced enough to have the required infrastructure, but a government that will side with the producers in order to bring income to their country. I think the Asian market is ripe to start taking this kind of business. They have very large film industries already, and human rights are not something most are known for.
Better known as 318230.
Except for that whole pesky union thing.
took seven episodes, but he finally joins the jedi ranks.
definitely not euros. one doesn't measure the force in euros. so, what is the going exchange rate from pounds to midichlorians, anyway?
Ford is more or less a real life "Final Destination" character. Between the door and the number of air plane accidents he should have died years ago. That last air plane accident did a real number on him. He couldn't talk for a week. If anything the real hero is his PR guy which made the media think he walked away from the last crash.
So, the movie company is fined, thus reducing its profits, and Ford might collect a smaller check as a result?
This is true in a literal sense. But completely false in practical terms.
Worker's comp is a trade off. They must cover you if you are injured, but generally you cannot sue for additional damages even if the employer is at serious fault. Damages are capped to medical bills and a paycheck. Without worker's comp limit of liability, there is no cap. A significant number of insurance providers demand employers ask for proof of workman's comp insurance for their contractors or pay for their workman's comp just as if they were a normal employee. Elsewise, said insurance provider leave themselves potentially open for significant uncapped liability.
Workman's comp insurance is pretty cheap for occupations that aren't statistically dangerous. Electricians, chainsaw jugglers and commercial fishermen might have a much harder job.
Nothing to do with workers' comp.
"Mind the gap."
Have gnu, will travel.
Pretty much zero effect, you have to consider the costs of sending and supplying key crew elsewhere with looser safety regs. elsewhere.
Also Cecil B. DeMille's been dead for a long time now, and directors do have people to consider the safety of cast and crew; just imagine how expensive things would have been if they had killed Ford.
...seeing as it was a quote from *Britain's* Press Association.